SOL Capital Management CO Sells 150 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 3rd, 2023

SOL Capital Management CO lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mcrae Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Capital Advantage Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advantage Inc. now owns 14,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 3,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Atlantic Securities lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.35.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.00, for a total transaction of $535,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,900 shares in the company, valued at $3,734,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $9,431,686.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,245 shares of company stock valued at $11,168,256 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $106.39 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $107.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.68. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.74 and a 1 year high of $115.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 51.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.